The odd word at the beginning is an aid to subsequent searching, as the out-of-the-box blog search feature does not appear to look at either dates or titles, so I have not managed to create a search term which recovers all the posts for that one visit. As I do not propose to get into fiddling with the search feature, another way would be to stop having multiple posts for the one event - but I rather like that way of doing things. So odd word it is. The odd reference is what happens if you forget to title a post. Blogger then uses the first line of your post to create a name for the file in which it puts it, and refuses ever to change that name, however much you fiddle around with the contents.
Greeted on arrival by the oak tree illustrated, a further development of the issues discussed at reference 2 - as it happens, itself the third post of a group of three, with this group not being readily recoverable by a single reference either. This is a reasonably old tree so perhaps when it goes, the Wisley people can dissect it and find out how the pipe work is organised around the re-entrant branches.
From there to take coffee, in my case tea with a blackberry and almond tart. Tart rather good. There are a lot of these almond tarts about these days, so I can only suppose that got put onto the carriculum at all the cook schools in the land a few years back, perhaps the result of some EU directive or other, with the further result that a wave of almond tart trained cooks is washing over the land. Has the wave reached Pitlochry yet? The place where they used to sell handsome, but very expensive tweed jackets. They also have a duke who is allowed to run what was billed as the kingdom's last remaining private army. No need to be alarmed, it was quite small and more or less entirely ceremonial when we knew about it, perhaps thirty years ago.
Onto the eastern arboretum, the one running along the southern bank of the Wey. As ever, lots to see, including some fine leylandii. Had I been quicker off the mark I would have planted one at the bottom of our garden when we first moved here to see how big it would get - but the space is taken now, and, anyway, rather too late. While a chap down the road planted a eucalyptus, probably about the time we moved here, now a handsome tree overhanging the road and sometimes mixed up with the telephone cables. Sadly, not all his neighbours appreciate it as much as I do.
Back to the big glass house to catch their display of flowering mint - along with all their regular stuff. Spent a little time watching the waterfall, with its sheet of moving water coming down over its shelf, pondering about how the eyes coped with this particular sort of moving image - given that what you see in a picture from the telephone looks quite different.
To the second class restaurant for an adequate lunch, nicely served but not particularly good value at around £20 for the two of us, one plate each and no drinks.
Then off to the alpine house to see their display, on this occasion mainly but not exclusively small cyclamen. Round through the borders and the rose beds, these last still having a few flowers, and onto the shop where I was able to buy some of their apples, 5 for £1.50. They turned out to be rather good, despite having probably been picked for some days. Described as Adam's Pearmain with google suggesting either that the 'pearmain' bit of the name refers to the shape of the apple or that is the name of a Victorian market gardener. I would have thought that these two explanations were exclusive as it seems unlikely that all the apples of this particular name and shape were invented by the one gardener.
I also took some time to gaze at the large display of vegetable seeds, including lots of different sorts of runner beans. Thinking of the time when I used to choose and buy such things, pretty much by chance, as I didn't really have a clue about such things. I just grew them. But I am clearly not alone, because the seedsmen now have a system whereby they give you exactly three clues about each sort of bean. Clues like 'magnificent flavour' or, when all else fails, 'bred in Britain'.
The takeaway on this occasion was the impression that lots of time and space had been given to plants which can cope with little rain and little attention. So lots of, for example, large grasses. Which is fine as I have always had a soft spot for such.
Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/on-tuesday-to-wisley-about-six-weeks.html.
Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/botanic-problem-3.html.
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